I would love to know what decision she have made. I stumbled across this thread because im in similar situation. My passion has always been denistry then is it went to dental hygienist to dental assisting now I have my Associates Degree in Medical Assisting. The pay is not what i thought but there wasnt any thinking obvious i wasnt prepared to go for a medical assisting but i did do research on dental hygienist I believe i would of liked it just conflict with the distance and transportation. I came to my decision if i dont like where im at within a year then biology major here i come. Also there are credentials of a DMD and DDS I prefer DDS Doctor of Dental Surgery at Chapel Hill NC versus DMD at ECU they could be the same thing as long as after a decade I have my own dental practice set up and cleaning teeth and giving people wonderful bright smiles across the globe im fine with which ever.